So the Hatch is over.........6 beautiful new baby chicks. I was hoping for more out of 14 but happy. This was our first hatch. The girls got to see them all zipper out of the eggs and now the fun of taking care of them begins. I did an eggtopsy on the other eight that didn't make it and this is what I found: 1. (1) Stink BOMB!!! still smellin up the basement. Don't know how I missed that one. 2. (1) Premature chick that probably died day 13 or 14. 3. (6) Mostly if not fully formed chicks that never pipped or hatched. Most all had yoke fully/mostly absorbed, and all looked healthy. I am confused. Anyone have any ideas why we ended up with so many of number #3's?
what day did you do eggtopsy on? Did you leave them in the bator for about 24 or 25 days? Sometimes it takes them longer than the average 21 days. I had 1 egg that pipped and zipped and died in the shell, it was so sad, but have no idea why. I guess something was wrong that we couldn't see and maybe that's what happened to yours. Sorry!
Do you know how large your air cells were? Sometimes late deaths are due to small air cells that don't give the babies enough room to keep their little beaks out of the fluid once they've broken through the inner membrane, and they can drown. Did you notice whether the beaks had broken through the inner membrane? What was your incubation humidity? Sometimes high incubation humidity can cause underdeveloped air cells. Of course, there are lots of potential reasons, but I do think this is a common one. The only way to know for sure is to candle the eggs before lockdown and keep track of the size of the air cells.
Quote:I did the eggtopsy on day 25. I candled before doing it to make sure there was no signs of life.